Prepare: Clean Air

Beyond any daily concerns about air quality,
some potential emergencies could send tiny microscopic debris
into the air. For example flooding could create airborne mold
which could make you sick and an explosion may release very
fine debris that can cause lung damage.

A biological
or terrorist attack
may release germs that can make you sick if inhaled or
absorbed through open cuts. Many of these agents can only
hurt you if they get into your body, so think about creating
a barrier between yourself and any contamination.

Nose and Mouth Protection

Be prepared to improvise with what you have on-hand to protect
your nose, mouth, eyes and cuts in your skin. Anything that fits
snugly over your nose and mouth, including any dense-weave cotton
material, can help filter contaminants in an emergency. It is
very important that most of the air you breathe comes through the
mask or cloth, not around it.

Do whatever you can to make the best fit possible for children.
There are also a variety of face masks readily available in
hardware stores that are rated based on how small a particle they
can filter in an industrial setting.

Given the different types of emergencies that could occur, there
is not one solution for creating a barrier between yourself and
any contamination in the air. For instance, simple cloth face
masks can filter some of the airborne "junk" or germs you
might breathe into your body, but will probably not protect you
from chemical gases. Still, something over your nose and mouth in
an emergency is better than nothing. Limiting how much
"junk" gets into your body may impact whether or not you
get sick or develop disease.

Other Barriers

There are circumstances when staying put and creating a barrier
between yourself and potentially contaminated air outside, is
known as "shelter-in-place”. You can use things, such as
heavyweight plastic garbage bags or plastic sheeting and duct
tape to tape up windows, doors and air vents if you need to seal
off a room from outside contamination. Consider precutting and
labeling these materials. Anything you can do in advance will
save time when it counts.

Use available information to assess the situation. If you see
large amounts of debris in the air, or if local authorities say
the air is badly contaminated, you can use these things to tape
up windows, doors and air vents if you need to seal off a room.

HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air Filtration) Fans

Once you have sealed a room with plastic sheeting and duct
tape you may have created a better barrier between you and any
contaminants that may be outside. However, no seal is perfect
and some leakage is likely. In addition to which, you may find
yourself in a space that is already contaminated to some
degree.

Consider a portable air purifier, with a HEPA filter, to help
remove contaminants from the room where you are sheltering.
These highly efficient filters have small sieves that can
capture very tiny particles, including some biological agents.
Once trapped within a HEPA filter contaminants cannot get into
your body and make you sick. While these filters are excellent
at filtering dander, dust, molds, smoke, biological agents and
other contaminants, they will not stop chemical gases.

Some people, particularly those with severe allergies and
asthma, use HEPA filters in masks, portable air purifiers as
well as in larger home or industrial models to continuously
filter the air.